To be based at Shoal Bay, just outside of Darwin, the $70 million project will use a technique called “pyrolysis” to turn green waste into diesel fuel, which will then be used to generate electricity at remote minesites.

The technology, which uses heat to break down green waste or other wooden material into oil or charcoal, was developed in Canada and has been operating successfully in Toronto for two years.

From 100,000 tonnes of green waste, 45,000t of green oil can be produced and converted to 7MW of electricity.

Renewable Oil said the Shoal Bay plant would produce 15 million litres of biodiesel per year.